Brown trial Day 3: Pathologist says three bullets struck Locey in the head

Thursday

Jul 3, 2014 at 5:00 AM

Day three of the Andy Brown murder trial ended Wednesday after 13 witnesses took the stand.Brown is on trial for the October 2013 shooting death of local accountant David Locey.

Corky Emrick

Day three of the Andy Brown murder trial ended Wednesday after 13 witnesses took the stand.Brown is on trial for the October 2013 shooting death of local accountant David Locey.The day began with a pair of motion hearings when St. Joseph County Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman ruled that testimony by attorney Roger Bird and IRS agent Adam Billmeir would not be allowed. Bird because he represented Locey and Billmeir because his embezzlement investigation is ongoing.Taking the stand first Wednesday was Det./Sgt. Mike Spring from the Michigan State Police.Spring testified to handling a 2004 embezzlement case of $200,000 from Kalamazoo County Parks and Recreation.Andy Brown pled guilty in that case.Skeet Bowersox was next to take the stand, telling the courtroom that on the day of Locey ‘s murder — Oct. 2, 2013 — he saw Brown at his father’s auto repair shop between 7:45-7:50 a.m.St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough continued with the timeline by calling Thomas Carpenter to the stand.Carpenter was working for Munn Construction on the day of the murder.Carpenter testified that he and Munn arrived at Jim and Teresa Brown’s home on Big Hill Road about 7:20 a.m.Carpenter said Andy Brown didn’t say a word, just walked into the home. He thought he was in the home for 5-10 minutes.Testifying to the same times was David Munn, owner of the construction company.Lee Younkman, a Coldwater businessman and friend of Andy Brown, took the stand.Younkman and Brown, along with Scott Elkins, are members of Business Networking International (BNI) in Coldwater.Younkman testified that Brown had been his accountant since 2006.He also testified that BNI has a meeting every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m.On the day Locey was murdered, Younkman said Brown was not at the meeting.Under further questioning by McDonough, Younkman testified that Brown had questioned him about buying ammunition.“He asked me where he can buy bullets, would he have to show identification and could the purchase be traced back to him,” Younkman said.The final witness of the morning was forensic pathologist Dr. Stephen Cohle.After brief questioning by McDonough that included his college background and having performed 7,000 autopsies, he was declared an expert witness in forensic pathology.Cohle testified that he performed the autopsy on Locey. He said the cause of death was three gunshot wounds to the head.Cohle said he removed two bullets from Locey’s head and a third fragmented bullet.He told the jury Locey was shot twice in the forehead and once in the top of the head.With his experience, the two wounds to the forehead were from a distance of six inches to four feet.The gunshot to the top of the head came from a distance of greater than four-feet.Cohle also testified about the anatomy of a bullet.Under cross examination by Brown’s attorney Michael Hills, Cohle said he couldn’t determine which bullet was fired first.He estimated Locey’s time of death at about 7:45 a.m.Cohle said he came to that time after taking information from law enforcement — the last time Locey was seen alive and the time he was found.During juror questions, one asked which bullet was fatal.“Each one would have been fatal,” Cohle said. “They all went through his brain.”Another BNI member took the stand to begin the afternoon testimony.Chad Heuer said Brown was his accountant and friend for the seven to nine years.He testified about Brown asking him about handling guns.“He didn’t appear to be afraid of them,” Heuer said.Heuer also testified about Brown’s demeanor.“Andy was acting weird,” Heuer said. “He cancelled business meetings.”Heather Brown, Andy’s wife, took the stand next.She testified about the days surrounding an Oct.1, 2013, meeting attended by Locey, Joy Stevens, Andy and herself.“It was an emotional meeting, no anger, just emotional,” Heather said. Heather testified that Locey had taken Andy under his wing and told a story that Locey had told her.“He made a mistake and a Sturgis bank officials gave him another chance,” Heather said.She admitted she was “a bit” angry with Andy over the embezzlement charges.“I didn’t believe it was true,” she said.Heather testified about the Oct. 1 meeting saying Andy and Locey were working on a plan. The three things that were talked about were backing up Andy’s computer, giving up some work because he was overloaded and to work on the billing.They also talked about Locey wanting Andy to take over the business when Locey retired.A second meeting was scheduled for Oct. 2, with VIP Auto Body to discuss their concerns.After several discussions between defense and prosecution, Heather testified about the death of her father in June 2013. She said her father lived a few houses down the street. He had problems with racoons entering his house through a pet door and her father would shoot the animals with a shotgun in his home.After his death, Heather began to box up items in the home.She testified that Andy would stop on his way home and pick up boxes, place them in his car and take them to their home.In her final questions, those from the jury, Heather testified that Andy went to work at 1 a.m., on Oct. 1 after a marital fight.Jim Brown, Andy’s father, took the stand midway through the afternoon session.He testified that he saw his son twice on the morning of Oct. 2.The first time about 7:15/7:20 a.m., at his home. The second time was at about 7:45 a.m.“He said ‘dad I got to go I have an appointment,’” Jim said.Jim testified he called Andy after hearing a call on his police scanner of a shooting at Locey CPA.“I wanted to make sure he (Andy) was OK,” Brown said. “Andy said I got to go.”Jim also testified that he wasn’t sure of his son’s and Locey’s relationship.“I never saw them together,” Jim said.Under cross examination, Jim noted that he saw nothing strange about Andy’s actions.Theresa Brown, Andy’s mother, took the stand next.She testified that Heather had told her Andy was going to be sued. “It was something that Andy and Dave had to work out,” Theresa said.She also testified that on several occasions Andy finished getting ready for work at their house.The final three witness of the day were Dan Losinski, Karen Losinski and Lance Losinski.Dan and Karen from JB Simpson and Lance from LL Electrical.They were CPA clients of Brown’s.Dan testified that he got a large bill in the mail from Locey CPA and he called Brown.“Andy came to my office and told me not to pay the bill, we didn’t owe them (Locey) the money,” Dan said. Karen Losinski added in her testimony, that after her husband called Brown, he was at their business in about 15 minutes.The trail closes out its second week with testimony beginning at 8 a.m.